Samlesbury Hall
Samlesbury Hall is a manor house built in 1325, located in the village of Samlesbury in Lancashire, 10 km east of Preston. It has been many things since then including a public house and girls' boarding school, but since 1925, when it was saved from being demolished for its timber, it has been administered by a registered charitable trust, the Samlesbury Hall Trust. Samlesbury Hall is open to the public daily except on Saturdays. This Grade I listed medieval manor house attracts over 50,000 visitors each year. Samlesbury Hall may have been built to replace an earlier building destroyed during a raid by the Scots under Richard the Bruce in The Great Raid of 1322. The hall has been many things in its past including a public house and a girls' boarding school, but since 1925, when it was saved from being demolished for its timber, it has been administered by a registered charitable trust, the Samlesbury Hall Trust. This Grade I listed medieval manor house attracts more than 50,000 visitors each year. History Gospatrick de Samlesbury (c1142-1212) was the first recorded manor lord of Samlesbury, when he built the first parish church, St Leonard the Less, circa 1180. Eventually Cospatric's great-grandaughters, Cecily and Elizabeth de Samlesbury inherited half the manor each and the parish was divided. Their husbands, John de Ewyas (c1235-1309) and Robert de Holland respectively, became lords of the manor - two lords and in time, two manor houses. Lower Hall, which lay within the Ribble's Horse-shoe Bend, was included in the Holland's share, whilst Gilbert II de Southworth (c1300-1363) built the Higher Hall in the eastern moiety, when he married Alicia de Ewyas (1304-1363) circa 1325. The latter remained with the Southworths for about 350 years, but the Holland's portion was given to the Stanleys in 1485. Great Raid of 1322 The Great Raid of 1322 was a major raid on Northern England, carried out by Robert the Bruce during the First Scottish War of Independence between 30 September and 2 November 1322, resulting in the Battle of Old Byland. The raid began by attacking the area around Carlisle then crossed into Yorkshire and penetrated ultimately as far as the East Riding, resulting in property being burned and destroyed, valuables from the wealthy and abbeys being stolen, and some residence and livestock being captured and taken back to Scotland. Other Scottish raids around the same time marched down from Carlisle and into Lancashire, reaching as far south as Chorley. 1325 Rebuild of Great Hall Gilbert II de Southworth (c1300-1363) of Warrington acquired half of the manor by marriage to Alice d'Ewyas and is credited with building the Great Hall around 1325. His great-grandson Thomas Southworth (c1497-1546) built the south-west wing. Samlesbury Witches The 16th-century English Reformation, during which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church, split the Southworth family of Samlesbury Hall. Sir John Southworth (1526-1595), head of the family, was a leading recusant who had been arrested several times for refusing to abandon his Catholic faith. His eldest son, also called John (1563-1612 ?), did convert to the Church of England, for which he was disinherited, but the rest of the family remained staunchly Catholic. (See also Samlesbury witches.) One of the accused witches, Jane Southworth, was the widow of the disinherited son, John. Relations between John and his father do not seem to have been amicable; according to a statement made by John Singleton, in which he referred to Sir John as his "old Master", Sir John refused even to pass his son's house if he could avoid it, and believed that Jane would probably kill her husband. Jane Southworth (née Sherburne) and John were married in about 1598, and the couple lived in Samlesbury Lower Hall. Jane had been widowed only a few months before her trial for witchcraft in 1612, and had seven children. Bradyll Family Southworth descendants held their part of the manor until 1677–78, when it was sold by Edward Southworth to Thomas Bradyll. Bradyll never lived at the hall but stripped much of its interior features to use at his main house of Conishead Priory at Ulverston. He then rented the hall out to handloom weavers before it was converted into the Bradyll Arms inn in 1830. The next owner was John Cooper, who bought the building in 1850 and leased it as a boarding school for girls being taught according to the Montessori system. Harrison Family Joseph Harrison, of Galligreaves Hall, a prominent Blackburn industrialist, substantially renovated the Hall after he bought it in November 1862. William Harrison, Joseph’s eldest son, lived at the Hall until 1789 when he sadly committed suicide. A fall on the ice in January of that year caused traumatic injuries to William’s brain and a leg, resulting in extreme depression and the resulting tragedy. His father, Joseph Harrison, died the next year at Galligreaves Hall, 18 February 1880, ‘after a prolonged illness’. Ownership of the Hall then passed to Joseph’s youngest son, Henry, who resided in Blackburn. He was mayor of Blackburn in 1880-1881 and became an Honorary Freeman of the Borough. Although still owned by the Harrisons, the Hall was tenanted for a number of years by Frederick Baynes and his family. Baynes was also a mayor of Blackburn, serving from 1896-1897. When Henry Harrison died in 1914, the estate of Samlesbury Hall was entailed to his nephew Mr. M.J.C. Johnston, son of Henry’s sister Agnes. However, the Hall had been left empty since 1909 until it was bought in 1924 by a building firm who intended to demolish it and build a housing estate. After money was raised by public subscription, the hall was purchased in 1925 and put in the hands of the Samlesbury Hall Trust, who have managed it since then. Manor Lords of Samlesbury Hall # Gospatrick de Samlesbury (c1142-1212) - Gospatric was the first recorded manor lord of Samlesbury, who is built the first parish church, St Leonard the Less, circa 1180. # Roger de Samlesbury (c1200-) - married heir to another manor lord without his assent. # William de Samlesbury (c1227-1256) - died without male heir # Cecily de Samlesbury (c1250-) - md John de Ewyas (c1235-1309) # Nicholas de Ewyas (c1278-1304) - md John Mdnmunk and died without male heir. # Alicia de Ewyas (1304-1363) - married Gilbert II de Southworth. # Gilbert II de Southworth (c1300-1363) -Married into Samlesbury Family acquiring the estate. 1325 Builder of Samlesbury Hall after the original was destroyed in Scottish raids. # John de Southworth (c1350-1415) - died in France while serving in the armies of King Henry V. # Thomas de Southworth (1393-1432) - est # Richard de Southworth (c1420-1472) - md Elizabeth Molyneux (1442-1518) # Christopher de Southworth (1443-1487) - md Isabel Dutton (c1452-1520) # John Southworth (c1478-1519) - md Helen Langton (c1482-1519) # Thomas Southworth (c1497-1546) - High Sheriff of Lancashire (1542), Expanded Samlesbury Hall, Veteran 1513 Battle of Flodden Field - 1534 Church of England separates from Rome, but the Southworth family remains stanchly Catholic. # John Southworth (1526-1595) - MP, High Sheriff of Lancashire (1562), commended for valor in Scottish war 1557, imprisoned for harboring Catholic priests. # Thomas Southworth (1548-1616) - md Constance Unknown - had son Edward Southworth (c1592-1622) who fled England to join the religious separatist in Leiden Holland. He had two sons that sailed in 1623 to join the pilgrims at Plymouth Colony- Constant Southworth (1612-1678) and Thomas Southworth (1617-1669). Edward's widow would remarry to Plymouth Colony governor - William Bradford (1590-1657). Notable Southworth Descendants * Saint John Southworth (martyr) (c1592-1654) was an English Catholic martyr. He is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Possibly a grandson of Sir Thomas Southworth, but his exact family lineage is not found. References * See Also History of Samlesbury Hall - * See Also Samlesbury - Wikipedia * See Also Samlesbury Hall - Wikipedia * See Also Samlesbury witches - Wikipedia * Edward Southworth (c1592-1622)/List of Famous Descendants - List of Samlesbury Hall Residents Category:Samlesbury Category:Grade I listed buildings in Lancashire Category:Country houses in Lancashire Category:Buildings and structures in South Ribble Category:Historic house museums in Lancashire Category:Established in 1325 Category:Reportedly haunted locations in England